1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of updating information having an expiration date, an information processing method for the same, and a control program for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic certificates are used for encryption in communications, for enhancing data authenticity, and in authentication of a communicating party.
For example, a certificate authority signs a public key of a printer by using its own private key, thereby certifying that the owner of the public key is the printer. In a case where a user uses the printer, an information processing apparatus used by the user verifies the authenticity of the printer public key by using a certificate from the certificate authority. This enables the information processing apparatus to encrypt print data by using an authorized printer public key. Such technology is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-224561 (corresponding to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003-105963).
In some cases, an expiration date is set in a certificate of a certificate authority in order to maintain certificate integrity. In such cases, an information processing apparatus obtains a new certificate from the certificate authority when the information processing apparatus finds that the expiration date of the certificate has passed and thereafter uses the new certificate. In the case that a plurality of information processing apparatuses use the same certificate from the same certificate authority, the information processing apparatuses obtain a new certificate from the certificate authority on an individual basis when each of the plurality of information processing apparatuses finds that the expiration date of the certificate has passed.
However, in the case that the plurality of information processing apparatuses use the same certificate, it is desired that, when at least one of the plurality of information processing apparatuses finds that the certificate has expired, the certificate held in each of the plurality of information processing apparatuses be updated. In this case, the certificate held in an information processing apparatus in the plurality of information processing apparatuses may be updated before the information processing apparatus finds that the certificate has expired. This allows the information processing apparatus to, when trying to perform communication using a certificate, start using the certificate without having to update the certificate.